The Chains that Bind Us
by Dillon117
Summary: Certain events connect souls. Be it through love or hate, both, or just circumstance. The witch Cia brought about one of these events. Six individuals were bonded, each to each other, all in different ways. The war was the catalyst. Only in its wake are the bonds truly tested.


**AN:** **This story will contain one shipping that is NOWHERE on this site. It will contain another shipping that is all over it. This is my first LoZ fanfiction, and it was inspired by the wonderful journey Hyrule Warriors took me on. Definitely my game of the year 2014. Let me know if you see any lore errors and how to correct it and I will make revisions.**

 **DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own the Legend of Zelda series, Hyrule Warriors, or any of their characters or stories. Only this story and my characters are my own.**

 **Summary:**

 _ **Certain events connect souls. Be it through love or hate, both, or just circumstance. The witch Cia brought about one of these events. Six individuals were bonded, each to each other, all in different ways. The war was the catalyst. Only in its wake are the bonds truly tested.**_

 **Chapter 1: The First Link**

It fell onto the sand. All her searching, and it lay before her, thrown to the ground like scraps for a beggar's dog. He stood, motionless, his back to her. She hadn't expected to see him here, but was no longer on the defensive, as she had been when she discovered the Demon King. Midna had no clue as to how the Gerudon had survived the seemingly fatal blow of the Triforce, but she could still see the bandages, the blood stains. Motionless. He refused to give his wounded body a moment of weakness before the Twili Queen. She knelt down and lifted the mirror, her mirror. The Mirror of Twilight. Whole. Pristine. She stored it a small pocket of space so that she could easily access it when she had properly prepared for the ritual to break her curse. The degrading, imp-like form she had been forced into was quite hellish for the woman. She was still royalty after all. When she floated back to her usual height, she saw the man hadn't moved during her small moment of contemplation. She took this small window of time to examine the desert warrior. He had cut off most of his fiery red hair. What was once to his waist now spiked up only a few inches upwards from the back of his head. His muscles rippled with each breath, easily visible under the light Gerudo desert garb he was sporting. He wore no armor nor weapons. To Midna it all appeared to be shed in a pile on the other half of the small, circular cavern formed by the desert rocks of Gerudo Valley. His usually greenish, dark skin seemed pale and clammy, a hue to be expected after such a near fatal wound. This observation only made her more unnerved by his steadiness, his willpower. She had made her decision before she realized she had been contemplating one.

She wouldn't tell the others that he had lived. She knew a broken man stood before her. The Twili knew better than most the atrocity that can be shown by others when you abide beyond their realm of normality. If he posed a threat to the kingdom, she would alert Zelda and Link, but only then. Until such a time arose, if it did, she would keep an eye on the man. She let out a small sound of acceptance and slowly turned around and exited the cave. Midna's aura seemed to radiate the anticipation she was feeling to be released from her wretched form. But even as she stepped through the portal she had summoned to the Twilight Realm under the stars of the Gerudon night, one thing refused to leave her mind.

Ganondorf held her gaze as she left.

Link was kneeling before the Master Sword. No matter how much he trained, how many monsters he slew, he couldn't get Cia's last words out of his head.

 _Cia lay on the ground, gasping, bleeding as Lana ran to her side. She took the fading witch's hand and began to weep. Cia looked to her and spoke up, over her choking breaths. "We've both seen how this ends… and we both know he doesn't choose you." That was it, all she had to say, all she felt she needed to say. Link's heart felt as if it had shattered, fallen to the deepest depths of himself, the weight that had just heaped onto his shoulders was bone crushing, and he almost felt as if it should crush him._

' _Has all this bloodshed, all this war, been for me?' Link's train wreck of thoughts were interrupted when Lana replied._

" _You don't always get the person you think you deserve… and I can live with that."_

Then Cia was gone, and Link was back in the present, and he felt just as… wrong as he had when he came to the temple. Hyrule was in peace. He had no goal. No drive, no motivation. Obviously he didn't miss war. He just needed to find a new focus. During battle, all he cared about was keeping his friends safe. And he had, for the most part. Now they could take care of themselves. But all of his mental reverie brought him back to the same point: what did Cia mean, and why did he think coming to the Master Sword would help? Maybe because when it was last in his grasp, he had everything under control. He knew everything that had to be done and how to do it. Link stood, and decided he would come back tomorrow, even though he knew it would just be a repeat of today, when he heard footsteps. He turned to see her. Her. The blunette that had been the focus of most of his brain racking over the last two months since the end of the war.

"You can take it if you want. Your sword." Her voice was so sincere. It sounded… thick with emotion. Like something clung to each of her words unsaid.

Link stood still, confused by her statement.

"I've been stacking protective magic on this place since the war ended. The sword no longer needs to be here to hold back the darkness. Take it. If you want, I mean."

Link nodded, turned, and drew the blade before gazing upon its shining steel then turning back to Lana.

"Thank you."

Lana stood there, looking at him. A second or two passed by, before she turned and began walking away. Link couldn't help but smile at her words of parting.

"You owe me one."


End file.
